Baseball cards have long been a popular collectible item among sports fans worldwide. Like any collectible, the rarity and condition of specific cards can make them hugely valuable. When it comes to the most valuable baseball cards in the world, some of the priciest belong to the illustrious Diamond King brand from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Here’s a closer look at some of the costliest Diamond King baseball cards to ever sell.
The Diamond King company began producing baseball cards in 1890 and continued through the early 1910s. Their cards were regarded as some of the highest quality of their time due to their thick card stock and vibrant color lithography. Only a small number of sets were printed during the brand’s lifespan. This limited production run makes intact Diamond King sets incredibly scarce today. With demand growing exponentially in the late 20th century as the sports card industry boomed, intact vintage Diamond King cards became widely sought after by affluent collectors.
One of the most famous and valuable Diamond King cards is the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner card. Widely considered the rarest and most coveted baseball card of all time, only 50-200 genuine T206 Wagner examples are believed to still exist in collectible condition. In the early 2000s, one near-mint T206 Wagner card sold for $1.26 million. In 2016, another example in similarly high grade fetched $3.12 million at auction. The rarity and iconic subject of the Wagner card have cemented it as the all-time price leader among baseball cards.
While no other individual Diamond King card has reached the value of the elusive T206 Wagner, there are several others that have broken records. In 2017, a PSA GEM MT 10 graded example of the 1909-11 T206 Eddie Plank card sold for $586,750. Like Wagner, Plank was a star player of the early 20th century game. Low surviving populations make high-grade T206 Planks enormously valuable. Another star third baseman’s T206 also set a record, with a PSA-graded example of the Frank Baker card selling for $266,250 in 2020. Both Plank and Baker demonstrate the high values that can be achieved by top-graded cards of top players from this pioneering era of the sport.
Continuing the trend of rarefied third basemen, the 1911 Turkey Red Cabinets #87 Billy Meyer card holds the record for the most costly non-player card. The Meyer card features a baseball player-turned-manager resting on third base. Fewer than 10 high-grade examples are thought to still exist from the very limited print run issue. In 2013, one PSA-certified Gem Mint specimen changed hands for an astounding $455,000, setting the marker for the most valuable non-player baseball card. Condition is everything with cards as old as the Meyer, and buyers will pay a massive premium for examples that have survived over a century in top structural shape.
Other highly-valued Diamond Kings include a PSA 5 graded 1909 E90 Winning Run Christy Mathewson that sold for $201,600 in 2005. Mathewson was one of the all-time great pitchers, making his cards highly coveted. Similarly, a recent sale of a PSA 6 graded 1909 E90 Ty Cobb realized $154,000 in 2021. As one of the earliest and most prominent stars in baseball history, Cobb’s scarcity and condition have supported his cards achieving toplevel prices as interest has increased.
While high-grade T206 cards dominate the top of the baseball card value ladder, pristine examples from other early 20th century issues can also command impressive sums. One case is the circa 1912 Price’s Cigarettes #39 Napoleon Lajoie. Lajoie was a star second baseman of the period noted as having one of the game’s smoothest swings. In 2013, a PSA NM-MT 8 grade specimen of his Price’s card sold for $75,600. For a non-T206 issue, that figure reveals how condition alone can make even an relatively obscure pre-WWI player card exceptionally valuable.
The earliest vintage Diamond King issues remain among the most prized possessions for serious baseball memorabilia collectors. Stars of the game’s formative years like Wagner, Mathewson, Cobb, and others will likely always be at the pinnacle in terms of rookie cards, manager portraits, and related rare memorabilia from those pioneering cardboard sets. When factoring in the limited surviving quantities and the immense significance of those initial cardboard issues, documented high-grade specimens will predictably shatter records as interest compounds. For aficionados of sports history, finding and owning a pristine example becomes a lifelong goal rivaling any other collectible realm. As such, the Diamond King brand, for all its antiquity, continues to resonate strongly with fans today through its remaining scarce artifacts over a century later.
